One writer and seven composers explore together seven powerful human affects
Romanian Cultural Institute in New York and ISVOR Cultural Association in Bucharest are pleased to launch a new online series, titled “7 eMotions”, which delves into the complicated inner lives of artists with the aim to reveal how their rich panoply of feelings is turned into timeless works of art. The author and cultural journalist Ioana Bâldea Constantinescu and seven contemporary Romanian composers explore seven powerful human affects that define our psychological life and inspire our creativity: disgust, anger, sadness, surprise, contempt, joy, and fear.
The first episode, an original composition by Andrei Petrache with Raluca Stratulat on violin, deals with the irrepressible feeling of disgust.
Ioana Bâldea Constantinescu graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures of the University of Bucharest, with a specialization in English and Spanish, and a master's degree in American Cultural Studies. From 2001 to 2020, she worked as a journalist at the Romanian Broadcasting Society. She is well known for her interviews with Richard Flanagan, Mathias Énard, Andrew Solomon, David Mitchell, Elizabeth Gilbert, Isabel Allende, Evgheni Vodolazkin, David Lodge, Jonathan Safran Foer, Nicole Krauss, Care Santos, Sarah Dunant, Alain de Botton, Guzel Yakhina, Jonah Sachs, John Freeman, Jón Kalman Stefánsson, Jhumpa Lahiri among others. Since 2019, he has been writing the Off Air editorial for Forbes Life. Ioana Bâldea Constantinescu is also a translator and, most of all, appreciated writer. Her first two novels „Dincolo de portocali” / ”Beyond the Organge Trees” (nominated in 2016 for the Observator Cultural magazine awards) and ”Nautilus” were published by Humanitas Publishing House in 2015 and 2017. In 2019 she published at Nemira Publishing House „Poveste pentru Maria” / ”Story for Maria”, volume nominated, in 2020, for the Writers' Association Awards. Ioana also publish short stories and essays in the anthologies “Selfie” (Arthur Publishing House, 2018) and „Dragă Virginia” / “Dear Virginia” (Black Button Books, 2019). In 2020, Ioana launched her own platform, ioanabaldea.com, and the PLAY podcast, a meeting place for lovers of vintage conversation, with a touch of playfulness typical of 21st century creativity.
Andrei Petrache graduated from the "George Enescu" National College of Music in Bucharest where he studied piano under the guidance Ileana Busuioc. In parallel, he studied, as auxiliary instruments, the guitar, the flute, the double bass, the percussion. In 2021, he graduated the National University of Music Bucharest, specializing in classical composition, in the class of Professor Dan Dediu, currently continuing as a master student in the same specialization. At the same time, he is studying orchestral conducting, under the guidance of Professor and conductor Cristian Mandeal. Andrei is a constant presence on the Romanian concert stages, with solo piano recitals, chamber music or in different jazz or world music groups. His performances have been awarded more than 30 prizes in national and international piano solo competitions. In the field of composition, he is the author of more than 50 works, in different styles (classical, modern, jazz, fusion) covering both vocal and instrumental genres, as well as electronic music. His works have been awarded at various national and international composition competitions (22 prizes at composition competitions) and have been presented at various concerts or festivals in Bucharest, Deva, Brașov, Târgu Mureș, Timișoara, Pitești, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca, Moscow, Paris, Hanover, Jerusalem, Tokyo, London, Cambridge, Brussels, and Wenduine.
Born into a family of musicians, painters and architects, Raluca Stratulat has been studying violin since she was 5. After graduating the National University of Music Bucharest she became especially interested in chamber music. She won several national and international awards, took part in masterclasses with renowned musicians, and gave an impressive number of recitals. Over the years she has been invited to perform in numerous classical and contemporary music festivals, solo or as a member of various chamber ensembles such as DuoAtris, DuoArt, Senso Trio, IconArts or Sonomania. Raluca Stratulat performed under the conductors such as Jin Wang, Jozsef Horvath, Horia Andreescu, and Adrian Morar. She has a passion for contemporary music and played first audition pieces written by both Romanian and foreign composers in Netherlands, Finland, Greece, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, Great Britain, and the U.S. Between 2016 and 2018 she performed the recitals of the `Restitutio` project initiated by the “George Enescu” National Museum in Bucharest which recreated a series of concerts performed by George Enescu all over the world. Raluca Stratulat is one of the initiators of the “Chamber Music Project” and frequently performs alongside her students. She is currently a professor and head of the music department at the "George Enescu" National College of Music in Bucharest. She is also dedicated to non-formal education, offers workshops, organizes trainings and conferences and has published a series of articles and studies. Raluca Stratulat frequently collaborates with artists outside of the classical music sphere and gives lectures on the management of the emotions on stage.
The artistic team of the project also include: Bogdan Vuluță – music director; Andrei Barbu - sound designer; Florin Ghenade – video director; Irinel Cîrlănaru – photography, editing, color grading; Daniel Ivașcu – graphics; Oana Ivașcu – producer and coordinator.
Project co-funded with the support of AFCN Romania.
Next in the series: anger, sadness, surprise, contempt, joy, and fear.